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Strengthening Democracy

A collection of 32 issues

Two Words Good Politicians Don't Hear Enough Right Now

My inbox is a big mountain of demands, the Congressional staffer told me. Make a statement about this now, introduce this bill, join that caucus, just plain stop the madness. And the kicker, she continued, is when we do what someone asks of us, nine times out of 10, we

A Strategic Way to May Your Voice Heard with Congress (From Someone Who Used to Work There)

First, let's address the elephant sitting in many rooms right now: Congress still matters. Yes, they pass an unadmirable number of bills (1-2%), making it hard to figure out what the combined 535 members (100 Senators, 435 House members) of this august body do most of the time.

Ways to Win the Day Right Now

When I drove by the assisted living facility on a cold, lightless February day, a group of residents, some in wheelchairs, some with walkers, were posted on the corner waving homemade signs: "HONK FOR PEACE!" The word win comes in part from the Old English winnan meaning to

How to Stop Giving the Powerful More Power + Build Up Our Own Instead

Years ago, I knew a woman who worked at a muscle magazine. She told me that before photoshoots, some bodybuilders would inject a kind of filler into their muscles to temporarily make them look bigger. It's very dangerous, and very effective. It creates the appearance of strength, though

A Gentle Guide For Hard Times

This is a noisy season, isn't it? Rapidly accumulating headlines on top of posts on top of podcasts on top of people at the gym saying, "Can you believe that they're going to..." We couldn't be blamed in this young year for

Which Politicians We Should Pay Attention to Right Now

"Folks come to Washington to do one of two things, " Senator Mitch McConnell said from the Senate floor one December day. "To make a point. Or to make a difference." The politicians who're in Congress to make a point might be making the finest

Preparing for the Road Ahead

On a bitter January DC day in 2009, Congressman John Lewis approaches Barack Obama, who moments ago was sworn in as President. The Congressman holds out a commemorative photo to the new President. Would you sign this? he asks. The President autographs the photo. First, though, he writes four words:

One Invaluable Action for This Moment

How many journalists does it take to change a lightbulb? the old joke goes. Journalists just report the facts, they don't change them. At first glance, this joke doesn't age well. Much of the media seems to treat facts like Play-Do: highly pliable. Except nowadays, much

How to Make a Real Impact This Election

Whenever I see a spray of political signs, I always look for the names I don't recognize. And the reason is simple: those are likely the races where I can have the most impact. There's a good chance that these are signs for local races – school

The Race We Aren't Talking About

I want to talk about 26 people in a rural pocket of Maine. But let's set the scene first. We're about 12 miles northwest of Portland in a town called Windham. It's home to about 19,000 people, give or take a few hundred